Governing America's Schools: Changing the Rules. Report of the National Commission on Governing America's Schools.

Education Commission of the States, Denver, CO.

This report examines governance in K-12 public education and offers two approaches for altering public-education governance. The document is a product of the National Commission on Governing America's Schools, which is a special research group comprised of school-board members, state and local superintendents, teachers, for-profit education and charter-school representatives, governors, business leaders, education reformers, a state legislator, and leaders of a teachers' union. The commission was charged with developing ideas and strategies for modifying K-12 public-education governance to effect improvements for all students. The report is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the condition of K-12 public education and Americans' perceptions of public education. It describes national and state dropout rates and completion rates, district performance, and trends affecting the state of K-12 public education. Chapter 2 examines the evolution of K-12 public-education governance, and the development of education from the 19th century up to the present. It focuses on such issues as centralized and decentralized approaches, the influence of industrial management, and strengths and weaknesses of current governance systems. The third chapter presents two systems of K-12 public education governance: publicly authorized, publicly funded, and publicly operated schools; and publicly authorized, publicly funded, and independently operated schools. A conclusion summarizes key findings. Two appendices describe the study. (Contains 57 references.) (RJM)